Starting this month, Glenwood Springs residents are paying 12% more for their electricity. The City of Glenwood Springs buys power from publicly owned Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska, or MEAN, and the co-op gets most of its energy from coal power plants. Andrew Ross is Manager of Engineering for MEAN, and he says the co-op had to increase its rates for several reasons. One of them is complying with nation-wide rules to shift away from coal power. Ross talks with APR’s Elise Thatcher.

Water officials in Ridgway, Colorado officially commissioned their new hydropower project on Friday. The City of Aspen is an integral player in the project, which is already providing power to many communities on the Western Slope. Aspen Public Radio’s Marci Krivonen reports.